Just days after the Genova Deli closed its doors after 90 years in Temescal, Barclays Pub, due to celebrate its 25th anniversary in October, is leaving its longtime home on Rockridge’s College Ave, according to the East Bay Express.

Per the EBX, the building’s owners have been unwilling to negotiate a new long-term lease and are looking to bring in new operators that will continue to run the space as a bar. Their last day of business, according to the general manager, will be July 15, after which they’ll attempt to find a new location not too far away.

Barclay’s is well known and loved as a classic watering hole that offers customers a family-friendly spot to catch a game while choosing from dozens of craft brews and a reasonably priced pub grub.

We’ll update with more details as we get them.

**Update**

According to general manager Derek Bromstead, nephew of Barclays owner Gene Bromstead, the business had been on a month-to-month lease for a while with a handshake agreement to stay when in late February the property owner relayed, out of the blue, that he wanted them out in favor of another operator. This despite the fact that Barclays has been a tenant in good standing for 24 years.

“We tried to talk to the building manager who has always done the negotiations on behalf of the owner, but it just didn’t seem like he was interested in negotiating a lease at any amount,” he says. “I told him, ‘look let’s look at the market rate and see what we can do to keep this here,’ but we got nothing. It’s bizarre; it just doesn’t make any sense.”

A representative from San Francisco Management Company (who wished to remain anonymous), speaking on behalf of the property owner, would only say that the new group would be taking over in July and planned to do some renovations and then reopen as another bar and restaurant concept. The representative also confirmed that the decision not to renew Barclays’ lease was through no fault of the pub’s owners.

“Absolutely not, they’ve been very good tenants and we wish them well,” the rep said. “We wish them all the best, and hope they’re successful wherever they end up going.”

That’s small comfort to Barclays’ owners, as Bromstead says they’ve been frantically searching for a new location nearby to relocate in the overheated North Oakland market, but with no luck. He said they tried to at least extend the deadline until their 25th anniversary in October, but that proposal was rejected.

“The problem is there’s just not a lot of spaces available,” he says, “and everything that is gets snapped up so quickly.”

In the meantime, Bromstead says his uncle, and the pub’s regular customers, are in a state of disbelief.

“Everybody is shocked,” he says. “People are very upset, disappointed, furious, you name it. It’s been all kinds of mixed reactions, but none of them have been positive, like ‘oh great, something else is coming in.’ … It’s terrible, my uncle is devastated–this is his thing and he worked so hard to get it to this point. It’s just kind of a sad situation all around, but we’ve got to move on. That’s kind of how we’re looking at it: As unfortunate as it is, we have to find a new location, rebuild, and hopefully make it even better.”